marketing consulting for wedding professionals    Writing, branding, logo design.newsletter design

Optimizing Your Photos Just Got More Powerful

March 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

You know where I stand on how powerful the photos on your website are. If you somehow missed this, read this article on labeling your images for SEO.

In a nutshell…

Today’s bride search by images.

You have to label your images for the search engines to find them.

Well I have just discovered a new tool that will make those images even more powerful. It’s called ThingLink and allows you to embed links, music, videos and even more labels in your images.

Here is a slide show that explains it all

Here it is in use, Click on the icons.

Style shoot for local wedding magazineI

I can’t wait to play with this over on Wedding Dish.

Here are the details.

It’s free.

It’s a breeze to use.

It has analytics!

You can install it on your website as a WordPress plugin.

It connects with just about anything you could want from YouTube and Vimeo to Sptify and Sound Cloud, Facebook and Twitter.

The images on your website just got even more powerful.

Yes, it adds another step but oh it is sooooo worth it.

Filed Under: Announcement, Marketing, Social Media, Website marketing, wedding marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How to Find Great Ideas for Blog Posts

August 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My clients are always asking me what to blog about. It seems that finding ideas for blog posts stumps way to many people. It shouldn’t.

I don’t care what segment of the industry you are in, as a wedding professional you talk to brides everyday. Whether it’s in person, on email or a comment on social media, you connect with your target market everyday. More importantly, you answer their questions. Right? How to write a good blog post

That is your gold mine for great blog post ideas. Those questions, that you can usually answer without even having to think, are a road map to your editorial content. If brides are curious enough to ask the question, they are engaged enough to take the time to read about it. I’ll bet you could fill a months worth of posts off the top of your head by just asking yourself what the most asked questions are.

If you want to mine it further, start writing down the question brides ask in your meetings. If you are meeting with a bride, chances are good that you are already taking notes, just add this to your normal note taking. Make it a point to gather at least one question from every bride you talk with.

If you keep getting asked the same questions over and over, try to find out why. I’ll bet five brides will give you five different answers to why they asked it.

Now obviously I’m not talking about the very common “How much?” If that is the only question you are hearing, you are not listening.

In addition to brides, you also work with a lot of other vendors. Flip the coin: What questions do you ask them? If you had the need to know, your readers may also want to know. I’m not saying give away company secrets or that secret source for that fantastic new ‘thing’, but sharing knowledge and a few insider tips isn’t a bad thing.

I have found that questions usually come in two varieties: quality, information seeking questions and bat shit crazy. Don’t discount bat shit crazy. Something made them ask it. Find out why. Worse comes to worse, make one of those quirky little  Xtranormal videos out of it. (here are some funny ones from the past)

It has been my experience that people tend to over think blog posts. Stop thinking of it as writing the great American novel. Just talk to your readers like you would to your friends.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Ask Christine, Back to Basics, Inspiration Tagged With: , , , , ,

Writing a Blog Post to Sell Your Product

June 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The first question you should ask yourself when you start writing a blog post is “What is the goal of this post.”

Be brutal and precise with your answer. Vague won’t help you hone it down.

Are you trying sell something? Make an announcement? Get your readers thinking about something in a new way?

What ever your answer, craft your post to reflect that.

If you are trying to sell something, you have to pitch it.

I am working with a client that is a caterer/banquet facility and they had a post about a recent prom. They reviewed the prom and really said very little about it, even threw in some poem.  it was more like a news report.What they didn’t do is give anyone a reason why they should book their prom with them.

Here are my suggestions on writing a winning blog post:

Define what problem your clients have that this “thing” solves.

Schools need some where to hold a prom. They need food, decor, a dance floor and sufficient electrical for the entertainment.

Explain why this solves their problem.

Our facility provides everything they need from an elegantly furnished room with dance floor.  It has hosted many such event so there is no concern about the electrical.  On site catering allows personalized menus. Great location with free parking.

Explain what makes your solution different.

Because we have done so many, we make it easy for you to set up yours. Rather than a blank location our is already decorated. All you have to do is add centerpieces and linens in your school colors. (Oh wait, we’ll take care of that too)

Ask for the sale.

“Riddel High’s prom was such a success. won’t you let us make you prom just as great?”

Give them a clear way to contact you or buy the product.

“Call Denise today at (555)555-5555 today to make sure we haven’t already booked your date! While you have her on the phone, go ahead and schedule your tour so you can start dreaming about your prom!”

 

Here is the post

Riddel High’s Prom at XVC Catering was a Smashing Success

Saturday night the Versailles Ballroom at XVZ Catering was the hotspot of choice for the Senior Prom of Ridell High.(put this in h1 tags)

The ladies sparkled in the soft glow of candles and crystal chandeliers while DJ Angelo rocked the house!

The evening began with a sumptuous dinner of Prime Rib,  Chicken Parmigiano and Pasta Primavera . Denise saw to it that the tables were set with linens in purple and black to match Riddel’s colors.

After dinner the students and teachers indulged in a decadent Sundae Bar. Then they packed the Versailles Ballroom’s huge dance floor for the rest of the night.

“Give me Everything Tonight” by Ne Yo (feat. Pitbull) was dedicated to the entire class that night and I’m sure the words, “tonight, let’s enjoy life,” was at the top of their minds and hearts.  This night marked the end of their senior year and an end to a wonderful four years as students at Riddel and appreciation towards their teachers and classmates.  Other dedications of the night included Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” to the faculty, and “Just the Way You Are,” to the ladies.

Such an elegant night for such a wonderful class. Watch the fun for yourself in this video.

Insert video here 

Riddel High’s prom was such a success. Won’t you let us make you prom just as great?

In the 20 years we have hosted the proms of Philadelphia high schools we have seen them change and evolve. Each year they just get more beautiful.We have everything in place to make your prom the one of a kind evening that you have in mind.

Call Denise today at (555)555-5555 today to make sure we haven’t already booked your date! While you have her on the phone, go ahead and schedule your tour so you can start dreaming about your prom!

Please, feel free to share the video and images with your friends on Facebook, just click the button below.

There you have it. It certainly isn’t the kind of review that you would see in the local paper, but then that wasn’t the intention. It’s purpose is to sell that ballroom to next years prom committees.

Filed Under: Back to Basics, wedding marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Why Do You Blog?

June 6, 2012 By 2 Comments

I bet the majority of you answered, “For SEO”  or “Because I was told to do it to market my business.”

Well, those are both really good reasons to blog. The real reason you should be blogging is to market your business. Unfortunately, too many of you are acting more like you are trying to market your blog than you are trying to market your business!

If you are modeling your blogging on sites like Style Me Pretty you are missing the point. Sites like  SMP are pro-blogs that are trying to build eyeballs because they are selling advertising. You on the other hand are trying to sell your service or product. There is a big difference in the anatomy of  the posts.

Here are some tips for writing good blog posts for your wedding business

You need a catchy headline, solid content that applies to your business in some way, good keyword density and a call to action.

The post that sparked this was for a banquet hall and was talking about the trend of Candy Stations. What they said was what a candy station was, how it worked and using it to carry your color theme.

What it didn’t contain was images of such stations at their facility or a call to action. Telling your visitors about a trend without also telling them how you can implement it for them is a waste of pixels.

One thing they could have done was showcase their own displays. Even better would be to show visitors that they have a lovely selection of containers that brides could use for their candies, making it a kind of plug and play solution.

“Look at all the great candy station containers we have for you to use! We save you the bother of having to buy a dozen or more glass jars or vases that you just have to store afterwards.

We take care of all that and you just do the fun part: picking out all the yummy candy!”candy-bar-at-weddings

How much more powerful is that?

Finish the post with a strong call to action:

“Call Denise today at  (555)555-5555  to get started designing the candy bar for your event at  XVZ Banquets. She even has a whole list of the best places it get all the yummy candies.”

Now you have highlighted a trend and showed how you can help to implement it for your bride. You followed it up with a call to action.

Another type of post that you must have on your blog is showcases of your work. Photographers and florists are usually very good at this. What they aren’t good at is telling the reader how they can translate this to them.

You have shown them beauty, now make them believe they can have it for their own and that you are just the person to do it for them.

What made shooting Brad and Angie’s engagement photos so much fun was shooting at (random cool location). Call us today to discus all the amazing hidden locations we have discovered to make  your engagement photos just as fun.”

Don’t forget the pitch.

Speaking of which, do you need help with your blogging? Find out about my Blog Post Analysis Package and then  drop me an email, I can help!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Back to Basics, Blog, wedding marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

How Often Should You Blog?

April 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

I get asked this question all the time. Unfortunately there is no magic mathematical formula that I can give you.

The answer is different for everyone. It depends on who your audience is and what you are trying to accomplish.

Conventional wisdom and some of the most influential blogger will tell you that posting EVERY.SINGLE.DAY is a must. That isn’t true for everyone. If you are just posting mindless crap to keep to that kind of schedule, or worse, stealing others ideas and regurgitating them then daily posting may be causing you more harm than good.

Oh sure, if you are a news oriented site or a pro-blogger then yes, daily is what you have to do.

For most wedding professionals that are just blogging for branding and SEO, quality is better than quantity.

Suppose you have been posting random tips to try to keep up a daily schedule. Twitter or Facebook might be a better option. Cut back the words in the post to no more than a quick hit, add an image and schedule it for your social media.

I am not saying to forget your blog. Your blog posts have a different purpose.

On your blog you should be posting well thought out pieces that are better developed. These are the pieces that will be more evergreen. For example, I have some blog posts that are 4 years old that are still getting comments. These are the kind of articles that really help build your reputation.

When I started blogging it was about SEO and getting readers. Today it is also about ‘social proof’.

Wikipedia defines Social Proof  this way:

Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation.

On a blog, social proof is the number of likes, tweets, +1 and comments your post gets. Think about it this way, if you see a post has a bunch of re-tweets and comments, you are far more likely to read it. If other people are sharing it, it must be of value, right? If no one thought enough to share it, it must not be that great. Put another way, are you more likely to pick the restaurant with the line or the one across the street full of empty tables? These people must know something,right? We trust and value the opinion of others in our peer group.

If you are posting everyday with throw away tidbits, your posts don’t have time to accrue any real social proof.

Cut back your posting schedule and make your posts more relevant and content rich. Let’s take the idea a recent wedding done by a caterer. Instead of just throwing up a few pictures and some content along the lines of “We had great fun catering the Rick & Rachel’s wedding this weekend at {Venue}. Enjoy these pictures.”

Try something like this:

  • Describe the food and how it fit their vision.
  • What made these food choices unique
  • Showcase a special ingredient or preparation.
  • Why did you style the food displays the way you did and how can a bride DIY that decor
What about a planner? Instead of just showcasing the images from the wedding talk about a special challenge or use it to teach brides something.
As search continues to refine itself, you have to pay more attention to the quality and relevance of your content. Quite frankly, first-rate posts that are going to rank highly need more time and thought than a bunch of pictures and a few sentences.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing, Social Media, wedding marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Facebook or Blog?

January 18, 2012 By 1 Comment

I ran across an interesting question today about where you should put more effort, in your blog or your Facebook page.

I’m not really sure why that is a question. Let me break it down for you.

Your website is your own personal piece of  internet real estate. Think of it as your home because in terms of your marketing, it is. Your blog should be the heart and soul of your website. In web design today, integrating your blog as a page on your website is the only way to go. If your blog is off on another url from your main one you are missing the boat.

Today’s brides go to one place to find their vendors above all others:

SEARCH.

If you aren’t ranking high in search engines for what you do and where you do it, you are behind the game.

Reread that last sentence. Notice I did not say for your name. I hope to hell you rank number one for your name. Unfortunately, that isn’t how brides search. They search for things in places.

Huh?

They search for florists in Bucks County.They search for wedding planners in Washington, DC. They search for caterers in Fairbanks, AK. They don’t search for Polly Sue Purebreds Catering. If they do it is because they have already been made aware of Polly Sue from a referral and that is a post for another day.

Now that you understand this, you understand why your personal piece of real estate is so important.

Back to the original question: your blog or Facebook.

Every time you post to Facebook, you are sending all that Google juice to Facebook.com, not to Polly Sue’s url. Great, I’m sure Mr. Zuckerberg appreciates the Google juice, but frankly, you need it worse than he does.

Think of it this way, you have an office or a store but you still meet people in the local coffee-house. Instead of investing to improve your office or store, you take time and treasure to improve the coffee-house. That’s just dumb.

How about this instead, you work on improving the store, and then post updates on the coffee-house bulletin board. When your potential customers start looking for you the coffee-house bulletin board is one of the many signs pointing to your store. When they get to your store, they see how amazing you are.

Enough with the analogies, if you don’t get it yet you never will.

Your blog should be an integrated part of your website.

Facebook should send traffic to your website, not the other way around.

Post to your blog and have it automatically cross-post a headline and an excerpt to your Facebook page leading them to your website.

 Done.

 

 

Filed Under: Announcement, Marketing, Social Media, Website marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Wedding Blogs. Good Guys or Bad Guys?

November 10, 2011 By 1 Comment

So what’s with all the hate lately?

It seems that photographers are stepping up on their blogs to trash wedding bloggers. Really?

First this from Hindsight Bride.

Then this from Jonas Peterson, The Mason Jar Manifesto.

Then Off-beat Bride stepped up to defend Mason Jars.

Heck I have even had my own say in the matter a few months back.

Here is the deal, gang

Photographers want to get published on the top blogs. Bloggers want to do what pleases their readers.  Those aren’t always the same goal.

Heck it has even gotten to the point where brides will tell their planners, ” I want my wedding published on Style Me Pretty.”

Ya’ll are acting like Kim Kardashian. It’s supposed to be about the wedding, not the publicity.

but that isn’t my point…

You, photographers, your job is to give the client what they want. In most cases, that is pictures of people. Their friends and family.

Bloggers, your job is to give your readers what they want. In most cases that is detail. Who gives a rats ass about people they don’t know? All they want are ideas they can be inspired by and snag for their own wedding.

You are both right. You are both servicing your client.

So here is the deal. Photographers, if your goal is to get published, give the blog editors what they want:details. If that means hiring a second or third shooter to get those shots then that is what you have to do. You can’t expect the blog editor to throw their readers under the bus.

Read the editorial guidelines on the blogs you want on and follow them. When you interview your bride ask them questions about the details of their wedding. Is it going to be worth you paying another shooter to get them?  Notice I said ‘you paying’ not the bride. It’s your goal to get published, not hers.

It is time for everyone to stop the madness and start working together.

Know what you want and what it is going to take to get it. don’t just whine about it.

For the record, I’m not a big fan of mason jars, but if that was what my readers wanted to see they would be all over my blog! Check out Wedding Dish? Do you really think I love candles all THAT much?

I big hat tip to loyal reader and friend June Hoffman for pointing this nonsense out to me.

Filed Under: Ask Christine, Back to Basics, Rants & Raves Tagged With: ,

Blog Camp. Be There!

October 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

Are you afraid of blogging?

Do you struggle with what to write?

Many of my clients know they should be blogging as a way to market their business but are intimidated by the process. They don’t know what to write, think it has to be some long winded post or don’t feel that their writing skills are up to par. I give tips and ideas but often that isn’t enough.

Help is on the way!

Ashley King, long time friend of Think and owner of Ashley’s Bride Guide is finally hosting her fabulous Blog Camp again.  She hasn’t done one of these since 2009 but people are still talking about it.

Unlike so many seminars out there today that only spout generalities, Blog Camp is hands on, down to the nitty gritty and jam packed with valuable take-aways.

The blog camp will take place over 2 days and will cover just about everything you have ever wanted to learn – from setting up your blog to helping Google find it to promoting it on Twitter.   I assure you, this will be a very hands-on, informative camp – designed to get you motivated and to give you a step-by-step plan for taking your blog from idea to reality. I’ll discuss key obstacles and how to get around them along with how to grow your readers.

Don’t believe me, look at what some of Ashley’s former students have said.

I was ‘forced’ to sign up for Ashley’s Blog Camp by my daughters who said I would never be successful at my business & was warned “the world will leave you behind” if I didn’t learn how to blog. Thinking I could never learn about blogging, I had rather stand before a firing squad than go to blog camp.
Ashley was a wonderful teacher & certainly knows all about the blog world. She was not intimidating at all. She never continued in the class until she was sure you understood each step.
The class was fun & when it was over Ashley assured us that if we had any questions we could email her anytime.
Going to her class was one of the best tools I used in advancing Bella Weddings.
~Vickie Stanton / Bella Weddings

The blog camp was well organized and presented with lots of energy and a great working knowledge of the subject.  It is a must for anyone in any industry seeking more insight into the world of blogging.  It’s probably one of the best values for the money spent that I’ve participated in in years.

Martin O’Connor Photography

www.martinoconnorphoto.com

Ashley’s Blog Camp for wedding professionals was a very informative experience me as a Nashville Wedding Professional.  I attended the 1st blog camp in 2009 to give social media insight but took away so much more information.  Ashley is passionate about helping vendors reach their full potential at the same time connecting them to potential brides.  Whether it’s Google Analytics or finding your voice, she definitely practices what she teaches in BlogCamp  & gets results!
The “icing on the cupcake” is that she is a great encourager & cheerleader for new wedding professionals in helping them reach their full potential online. I would highly recommend Ashley’s Blog Camp to new wedding professionals & existing professionals needing a refresher!

A. Latrice Cushenberry
www.LatriceCushenberry.com

Event will take place on Sunday – November 6 & 13, 2011. Workshop will start at 3pm and will last for approx 4-5 hours, depending on questions.  For any of you in the mid south, this is a must attend.

For all the rest of my readers spread across the globe, Ashley has promised me that if there is enough interest she will host another one that is on a single weekend and arrange hotel deals for you. If you aren’t able to attend this on, either contact Ashley directly or leave a note in the comments telling her you are interested.

 

Ready to register?

 

 

Filed Under: Announcement, Back to Basics, Blog Tagged With: ,

Who Is Your Customer?

June 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

I got to thinking about this today as I was following a fairly heated conversation on a couple of wedding blogs. 

By and large, the customer base of wedding blogs and the wedding print media is wedding vendors, not the bride & groom.

Now think about that for a minute. Any information based business is going to advocate for their customer base. They are going to speak in such a way and feed their readers information that is going to enhance the position of their customers. Again, please remember, their customer is the wedding vendor.

What does this mean for the bride and our industry?

It means that today’s bride is being fed a steady diet that is not always in her best interest. She is being told what to do and what is hot based on what the wedding industrial complex wants to sell. Just take a look at the dramatic rise in staged photo shoots on wedding blogs. Yes, they are gorgeous, I won’t argue that. The problem is they aren’t reality, although they are often presented as such. Most are unreachable by the average bride. I hate to tell you, but not every couple is hipster or shabby chic. don’t even get me started on the wedding gowns shown in the major magazines editorial. I have ranted on that until I am blue in the face.

It is no wonder that today’s bride is turning to alternatives to wedding professionals. As heavily exposed as brides are to over the top weddings they are beginning to believe that they both will not be able to afford a “wedding” professional and that even if they could, said “professional”  wouldn’t listen to them anyway. It isn’t that they are exploring using professionals and deciding against it, they are looking for alternatives first.

Is there an answer? Maybe.

I think that every wedding professional out there has a blog, why not start using it to really advocate for the bride. There is this little thing called Karma. If you as wedding professionals start telling the truth, being an advocate for the bride, showing them that you do offer alternatives  they will come back. Not only that, they will see you as a savior, a bright light in the darkness and they will be your evangelists.

By the way, I plan on cross posting this on Wedding Dish.

 

Filed Under: Back to Basics, Rants & Raves Tagged With: ,

2 New Websites for You to Check Out

January 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I have been a busy little camper the last few weeks. I thought you might want to see that latest sites.

The first one is for a lovely lady in Sacramento, California, Amrit. Amrit specializes in SouthEast Asain weddings and to say that I loved all the images I had to work with would be an understatement of massive proportions. We also incorporated her already very popular blog, ShaddiCurry into the site.

Please have a look and enjoy.

The second one was for a florist I have known for years. We decided to get his site more current and add a blog. I look forward to seeing what he has to say.


Filed Under: Marketing, Website marketing Tagged With: , ,
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